LIVING UNITED
2009, ISSUE I
The Big Picture for Central Ohio:
Growing Needs That Require a Bold Response The economic turmoil of the last few months has led to an unprecedented level of need in our community, and exposed some of the underlying problems we have been struggling with for years. And though we may hear bad news every day about specific challenges, it’s often difficult to understand the big picture. United Way of Central Ohio has always been a place where volunteer community leaders could gather to share their views and experiences and try to understand the big picture. United Way brings together more than 300 volunteer experts with diverse backgrounds and professions to guide our work, and sponsors the research needed to understand community conditions and make effective decisions. This broad perspective gives our volunteers a unique view on the interconnectedness of the challenges that face us, and helps us develop a holistic approach to addressing them. Based on this broad perspective, United Way concentrates its work in the areas of education, income, health and home, recognizing that improvements in each of these areas bolster progress in all of them. Part of our mission is to share the information we find with our supporters and inspire each person to be a catalyst for change in our community. With that in mind, here is a look into the current state of some key areas of concern for central Ohio. Later this year United Way plans to announce concrete ten-year goals that address each of these interconnected areas. Just as the problems we face in each of these areas are connected, the solutions must be as well. We must understand the big picture in order to create effective, lasting communitylevel change. United Way of Central Ohio is dedicated to bringing the people and resources together to make that change happen.
Education
The direct relationship between high school graduation and higher income levels was made very clear in a report issued in April by America’s Promise Alliance, a national group that advocates for at-risk children. The report shows that the median annual income for a high school graduate in Columbus is $25,420 – more than double the $11,000 median income a dropout makes. This gap is much wider than in other major metropolitan areas studied, showing that a high school diploma is even more important for success in central Ohio than in other areas of the country.
Income
Even before the economic downturn began, central Ohio faced the problem of significant increases in the number of working poor. A Brookings Institution study found that in the first half of this decade the number of people living in central Ohio neighborhoods where at least 40% of the residents qualified for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) increased by 2.4%, or over 6,100 people. The EITC is only available for working households making less than $40,000 a year. This increase caused central Ohio to be ranked 26th worst out of the 58 metropolitan areas surveyed. Another indicator is the rise in the number of people in Franklin County receiving food stamps. According to a report issued this January by Children’s Defense Fund – Ohio the number of households with children in Franklin County that rely on food stamps to meet basic needs doubled in the past seven years from 14% to 28%.
Health
Many people are unable to afford the care they need to stay healthy. The 2008 Ohio Family Health Survey found that 17% of Ohioans age 18 to 64 are uninsured, an increase of 2% over the previous survey conducted in 2004. Over three-quarters of these uninsured people live in households that make below 300% of the federal poverty line, or about $55,000 for a family of three, and cannot afford to contribute to health care without sacrificing basic needs. Rapidly rising obesity rates are also adding to health problems. Approximately 25% of children and 60% of adults in Franklin County are overweight, and a recent national study found that the fastest rising segment of obese children are in the 2- to 5-year old age group. Since we know that obesity is a major contributing factor to serious health conditions like diabetes and heart disease, this preventable trend is likely to lead to even greater future burdens on our health care system if we do not take action.
Home
Vacant and abandoned housing is a major problem for central Ohio. There are now more than 5,000 vacant homes in Columbus. This number is up sharply over the past two years with the rise in foreclosures, but even before the foreclosure crisis thousands of vacant properties helped lead to the decline of neighborhoods like Franklinton and Weinland Park. These abandoned houses are often havens for criminals and impediments to neighborhood groups working to improve the places where they live. The crime that accompanies these vacant properties leads to stark statistics like the fact that a child who lives in Weinland Park is five times more likely to be a victim of crime that the average for a child in Ohio.